Advance Polls

A lot of people spent time voting at advance polls across Canada on the long weekend.  Some people reported lengthy lineups at polling stations in Kingston yesterday.

The figures for the voter turnout yesterday aren’t available yet from Elections Canada…but it says the turnout for the first three days of advance voting was 2.4-million.

That’s a 16 per cent increase over the number of votes cast in three days of advance polling for the last election in 2011.

Trudeau – Napanee

Liberal leader Justin Trudeau made a whistle stop at the Tim Hortons in downtown Napanee yesterday.

About 250 people greeted Trudeau.  He urged them to spread the word about his campaign and vote.

Hastings-Lennox and Addington Liberal candidate Mike Bossio and Kingston and the Islands candidate Mark Gerretsen attended the quick stop in Napanee yesterday.

Monday Night Fire

Kingston Police and fire officials are investigating a suspicious fire at a Wilson Street apartment.

Kingston Fire and Rescue was called to 176 Wilson Street at 11:15 last night.  Firefighters found smoke in the hallway and had to break into the apartment.

A small fire was quickly extinguished and damage was limited to around $1,500.

Research – Privacy

A project at Queen’s University is getting $2.5 million to study the collection of data for surveillance purposes.

The grant is going to the Surveillance Studies Centre at Queen’s.

Professor David Lyon is leading the five year study.

It will be looking at all kinds of things including national security, how corporations and governments use data to design marketing campaigns, surveillance efforts by police and even information collected by smart power meters.

Hawkins – Obit

People in Kingston are remembering former city councillor and baseball organizer Joe Hawkins as someone who worked tirelessly to make Kingston a better place.

Hawkins died on Friday.  He was 81.

He served on city council from 1975 to 1988 and again from 1993-2000.  Before that he was a catholic school trustee for six years.

Hawkins served as president of the Kingscourt Baseball Association for 15 years.

He’s in the Kingston Sports Hall of Fame as a builder and received the Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal.

Visitation takes place from 2-6p.m. today at St. John the Apostle Church with and the funeral Mass will take place tomorrow at 11 a.m.

Empty Building – Tech Centre

A 150 year old building that’s empty is set to become Kingston’s newest entrepreneurial centre.

City staff is recommending council approve a pilot project for the Portsmouth Town Hall building.

The plan is to establish it as a centre for Internet based technology startup companies.

Chief Administrative Officer Gerard Hunt is recommending council approve the project and $65,000 to prepare the building for use.